The present invention relates to communication systems in general, and in particular to systems for reporting user specified errors in telephone systems.
Most communication systems that connect a number of telephones to one or more outside telephone lines are controlled by a private branch exchange (PBX). The PBX operates to connect telephones to an outside line as well as to connect one or more telephones together internally for intercom applications. In addition, most modern PBXs support advanced features such as voice mail, automatic number identification (ANI), call forwarding etc.
In any communication system, it is inevitable that malfunctions will eventually occur. To handle internally detected errors, most PBXs are paired with a robust monitoring system that includes a modem to forward an indication of an error to a customer service center. The customer service center receives an error message and can dispatch a service technician to remedy the problem. While such a system works well for errors that can be detected by the PBX""s own internal diagnostic routines, the system cannot be used to notify the customer service center of errors that are reported by users of the system.
To report these types of errors, most communication systems also include a separate, dedicated trouble ticket computer system. A network supervisor receives calls from users explaining their problems and enters a description of the problems into the trouble ticket computer system. Alternatively, in more sophisticated systems, each user may be able to enter a description of a problem from a personal computer connected to a trouble ticket server computer via a local or wide area network. In one type of system, the trouble ticket computer then prints out a hard copy of the problem (the trouble ticket) and the network supervisor then forwards the ticket to the customer service center to evaluate the problem or schedule a repair. In another system, the trouble tickets may be written by hand. These methods of reporting errors are subject to several problems. First, trouble tickets may get lost or the information contained therein may not be accurately forwarded to the customer service center by the network administrator. Furthermore, the reporting of errors is delayed by the time it takes the network supervisor to manually process the trouble tickets.
Given the shortcomings associated with the prior art method of handling user reported errors in a communication system, there is a need for a system that can more accurately and quickly transmit such errors to a customer service center.
The present invention increases the speed and accuracy by which error or problem messages reported by users of a PBX based telephone communication system are forwarded to a customer service center. The communication system includes a monitoring system coupled to the PBX to receive an indication of internally detected errors and to forward the errors to the customer service center. A trouble ticket server computer receives and stores the error messages entered by a network administrator or directly by users of the communication system. The trouble ticket server is connected to the monitoring system via a contact switch. Upon the receipt of a user generated error message, the trouble ticket server closes the contact which is in turn detected by the monitoring system. The monitoring system then generates an external alarm message which is transmitted via a modem to the customer service center in order to request the dispatch of a service technician.
The monitoring system may be coupled to the trouble ticket server by a serial communication link or LAN over which the contents of the user reported error messages are transmitted to the monitoring system. The monitoring system then requests one or more diagnostic reports from the private branch exchange prior to forwarding the contents of the error message to the customer service center. A technician at the customer service center can then review the error message and the diagnostic reports in order to inform a service technician as to the likely source of the error.